Generate Your

Business Idea
(GYBI)
BUSINESS AWARENESS
Day 1

Expectations
Please introduce yourself and say
what you expect:
From Yourself?
From your Fellow Participants?
From the Trainers/Seminar
Organizers?

Questions You Will Answer

Are You Ready to Start a Business?
What is a Business Idea?
How do You Look for Business Ideas?

1st
Day

What are the Possible Business Ideas for

You?
Which Business Idea is Best for You?

2nd Day

Before You Even Start

Thinking of a Business
I want to start my own business
but I don't know what to do.

I wonder what sort of

business would be
successful?

ASK FIRST, Are You Ready

to Start a Business?
Answer the Personal Assessment
Form (Activity no. 1)
Choose which statement, A or B,
applies to you.

Scoring Guide:
TOPIC
1

TOPIC
2

TOPIC
3

TOPIC
4

4
5

TOPIC
5

TOPIC
8

TOPIC
9

TOPIC
10

TOPIC
6

TOPIC
7

Your Score
TOPICS/Personal Characteristics
1. Motivation for Starting a business
2. Risk-taking abilities
3. Determination and ability to deal w/
crisis
4. Family support
5. Initiative
6. Ability to reconcile family, religion, and
business
7. Decision-making abilities
8. Ability to adapt to business needs
9. Commitment to business activities
10. Negotiation skills
TOTAL SCORE

Score

Your Strengths &

Weaknesses
Recognize your Strengths and
Weaknesses.
In which topics did you get 8 points or
higher? These are your Strengths.
Build on them.
In which topics did you get 6 points or
less? These are your Weaknesses.
You should overcome them.
Answer Activity Sheet no. 2
(Strengthen Myself)

Some Suggestions
TOPIC

SUGGESTION

Motivation

Increase your motivation by making a plan for the

future.

Risk-taking

Practice discussing the advantages and disadvantages

of any situation. Carefully study a problem and
manage risks.

Determination

READ about successful business people and learn that

your success depends mostly on your own efforts.
Learn how to deal with crisis situations. Increase
your commitment to work. Only hard work brings
success.

Family

Talk to your family about difficulties of running your

business and persuade them to support you.

Adapting to
Business Needs

Be open to new ideas and other peoples views. When

things go wrong, analyze what happened and
improve your ability to learn from mistakes.

What else can you suggest?

Strengthen Yourself
Weaknesses What I will do to
Strengthen Myself

Question 2: What is a
Business Idea?
To DEFINE a Business Idea, you
must be able to answer the
following questions:
WHAT is the product/service? Are
you good at making/selling that
product/service?

 WHO will buy your

product/service? How many
customers will you have? Where
do they live?
Can they afford to buy
your product
or service?

If I make clothes
to sell, who will
my customers be?

 HOW will you sell your product/

service? Retail
or wholesale?
Will you rent
a place?

 WHICH need of the Customer will

your product/service satisfy?
I wish there was a
WHY will they
school nearby. My
daughter needs to go
buy from you
to school.
and not from
someone else?

How do You Look for

Business Ideas?
Where do Business Ideas Come From?
From Yourself
Abilities/Skills
Experience
Interests/Hobbies

Where do Business Ideas

Come From?
From Consumers,
the Market
Needs and Wants
Changes in
products,
technology,
the environment, etc.

Fill up Activity
Sheet no. 3 (Sources of Business Ideas)

Different Types of
Businesses
Retail
Retailers purchase
ready-made goods
from wholesalers
or suppliers for
resale at a profit.
Examples: Fruit & Vegetables retail,
Hardware stores, and school &
office supplies stores

Different Types of
Businesses
Wholesale
Wholesalers buy large quantities of
products which they break into small
quantities and resell to
retailers.

Different Types of
Businesses
Manufacturing
Manufacturers use raw materials, such as
leather, wood, cloth or metal and make new
products out of these materials.
Examples: furniture-making, copra-making,
dressmaking,
making crafts, tools,
and cooking food

Different Types of
Businesses
Service
Service providers are those who sell a
particular service. Examples:
transporters,
Salons, banks, resorts,
laundries, delivery
companies, building
contractors,
repair, schools,
cleaning services,
plumbers,
carpenters,
and painters.

Different Types of
Businesses
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing
Involves extracting raw materials by
farming, logging, and harvesting of land and
water resources.

Different Types of
Businesses
Combination
Example: A garage business can provide repair
services but can also sell oil and some spare
parts. It is a combination of service and retail.
There are also those who
cook food and sell it retail,
such as
restaurants &
bakeries.

Your Type of Business

Fill in Activity Sheet no. 4 (Types of
Businesses) to initially list what type of
business you might be interested in.
Think about the following:
Do you think you would like to work with a
lot of people or do you prefer to work on
your own?
Are you good with your hands or do you
prefer talking to people?
Are you an active outdoor person or are
you happy working behind a desk?

How to Find Business

Ideas

Brainstorming
Investigating Your Environment
Using Experiences
Visit to the Local Business Area
Ideas List

Brainteaser

Connect all the nine dots with four

straight lines without lifting your pencil/
pen off the board/paper or retracing a
line, as this counts as two lines.

Brainteaser
Start

1
2

Solution

Go beyond your boundaries

Get out of your personal box
Leave your Comfort zones

Brainstorming
Open your mind and just list down as
many business ideas as you can
Best done with others
No comments or objections. Just keep
listing down your ideas.
Activity no. 5 Form groups
and brainstorm on
your assigned word.
The longest list
wins!

Investigating Your
Environment
Resources from Nature
What natural resources/
products is your
place famous for?
Examples: Beaches, fruits,
coconuts, white sand, etc.

Investigating Your
Environment
Peoples Skills & Abilities
What skills are your people famous for?
Examples: Artists, woodcarvers,
carpenters, crafts,
music, dance, etc.

Investigating Your
Environment
Institutions and Industries
Are there schools, offices, hospitals,
industries or government agencies in your
area? What kind of businesses would
serve their and their employees needs?
Examples: Food, cleaning,
repair, supplies,
maintenance,
transport,
delivery, etc.

Investigating Your
Environment
Import Substitution
What products are
imported from
abroad or from
other towns?
Can you make
them locally?

Waste Products
Can you make a
product/service
out of waste
materials?

Investigating Your
Environment
Publications
Where can you find reading materials
that can give you business ideas?
Examples: Libraries, Internet,
Magazines, Bookstores, etc.

Investigating Your
Environment
Trade Fairs and Exhibits
Attend trade fairs,
bazaars, and
exhibits. These
are good sources
of ideas. Public
markets are
also a good
source.

Fill in Activity Sheet

no. 6
(Investigating
Your Environment)

Using Experiences
Ask Yourself about your own Experience
Were there things/services you wanted to
buy but these were not locally available?
Were you unhappy with products/ services
you bought? Do you think you can do
better?

Listen to other
Peoples
Experience
Do Activity no. 7
(Using Experiences)

Visit Your Local Business

Area
Activity 8
Visit your local business area and make a list of
business you see
Count them and classify them into the different
types of businesses
Retailers

Wholesalers

Manufacturers Agriculture Services

Forestry,
Fishing

15 restaurants
27 fruit and
vegetable vendors
6 I grocery stores
1 shoe shop
4 hardware and
farm supply stores

11 furniture and wood

fittings makers
9 metal fabricators 4
tailors
1 weaver
3 mat and wall hanging
makers
2 soft furnishings
makers

1 feed mill
1 plastic sheeting, ropes,
and sacks

2 cement block makers

1 Fish Pond
2 Vegetable farms

doctors/1 clinic
2 banks
8 vehicle repair
3 electrical items, radio
& TV repair shops
1 building and office
cleaning service
2 security firms
1 equipment rental firm
8 nursery schools
3 bicycle repair
services

Review
Questions we answered today:
Are You Ready to Start a Business?
What is a Business Idea?
How do You Look for Business Ideas?

We learned how to generate business

ideas by

Brainstorming
Investigating your Environment
Using Experiences
Visits to the Local Business Area

Assignment
Generate your
business
ideas by using
what you
learned.

Good
Luck!